How to Reach and Wow Your Customers with Targeted Promotions

The Build Up of Frustration

Like many of you, I receive a lot of emails from many different types of businesses, but over the past few years, I have noticed an ugly trend— blanketed emails every week! Blanketed emails are ones that are designed for the masses with no personalization to the receiver of the message.

Also, many companies have fallen into the bad habit of over-sending mass marketing emails because it is easy and often produces slightly higher returns. Because this has become such an issue for consumers, many email providers have come out with a way to separate these types of emails from your “normal” inbox. For example, if you have a Gmail email account, you might have noticed a tab in your inbox where emails deemed to contain promotional content are specifically filed away in a separate folder. This is to help people control how much is coming into their main, active mail.

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to find an important message, especially in a hurry, but you have to filter through a million RedBox and Uber Eats emails. I don’t know about you, but besides the guilt of how much I spend on movies and food, their emails do nothing for me! And the notion that the more they send the higher their returns will be is not always the case. Often, it can have very negative effects on the company’s online reputation. In my case, I end up blocking many emails, so I wasn’t spammed anymore.

Eureka! What is This?

Then, when I thought all hope was lost for a meaningful email and I was swimming in a sea of clutter, it happened, an email from a business that was meant for me! This email wouldn’t have been sent to all of their customers; there is no way everyone had this same situational email. It referred to my past with the business and what I was interested in. I felt special, and I called the business that day to make an appointment.

5 Ways a Business Owner Can Adopt This?

Target your emails to the right group – Send offers tailored to a customer’s behavior (or a group with the same needs). For example, you might select people who need the same service done or who have had the same experience with the shop.

Tailor to Demographic – On top of targeting to specific groups with a certain behavior, also consider tailoring email content to specific demographics, based on such things as geographic location, age range, gender, etc. For example, you might use different language or tone in an email to a millennial versus a baby boomer.

Address them personally – Many email marketing providers offer the ability to dynamically customize emails. This means including the first name of the customer in the email subject line or the greeting or including a specific detail about the person within the body, such as the last service they had. These small points increase the personalization while reducing the time spent emailing customers.

Send from a “Real” Person – Add your “real person” touch by including a signature and real first name in your sender email.

Be Timely – Make sure emails are aligned with your customer’s actions. If your customer is visiting the shop for the first time, send them a thank you and welcome letter right after their visit.

REMEMBER: It is okay to send generic emails to all of your customers once in a while, especially for a broad promotion, but do not overdo it.

Personalized Customer Communication – SocialCRM Style

The good news is that if you are already a part of our SocialCRM program, we are already doing most of this for you. But you can do more! Let’s start with what SocialCRM does today:

Every email sent is customized: We personalize every email that is sent to your customer, including a welcome email after their very first visit.

Individual Owner Auto Site: After your customer’s welcome email is sent, they are invited to their own personalized site on OwnerAutoSite.com (OAS)! When I first started in the SocialCRM department of Mitchell 1, I was blown away by this service. Before that, I never had seen a dedicated auto service site where I could access all my car information. I looked up a shop in my area and got set up with them on OAS after my first oil change. I have been going back for six years now!

Personalized and timed OEM service reminders: These are reminders based on the customer’s personal driving habits. Yes, that is correct! SocialCRM takes the last two odometer readings from their past visits and calculates the amount of driving they do daily. From that, we know when they will hit the next interval and when to send them that email. All you have to do in the shop is add the mileage when closing out an invoice. Each time you do, we re-calculate. In addition to that, below is a list of other personalized emails that we are sending on your behalf.

Recommended/Declined Services

Timing Belt Replacement

Thank You Email

Google+ or Yelp Follow up email

Lost Customer

Welcome to Owner Auto Site

So now that we have covered what is being done for you automatically, let’s review the additional options you have for FREE!

Target Marketing Emails: With either a quick call to your dedicated support agent or by filling out the online form (perfect for after hours), you can select a targeted email to send. You will receive a sample of the email to approve before it is sent. There is no limit on the number we can send for you and your agent will always offer suggestions and ideas, like holiday messages or customer appreciation days.

We have many different filters to help you target the correct customers. Maybe you want to send a message to a particular zip code; we can do that! We can even send emails to customers who have spent a certain dollar amount and thank them for their business by offering them an “exclusive” promotion not offered to everyone.

The Take-Away

Try to make your customers feel special. Let them know you are paying attention to their needs. We are here to help you! If you are interested in running a promotion, please give your SocialCRM agent a call or click this link to fill out a Target Market Promotion Request Form!

About the Author

Lizzy Murphy has been with Mitchell 1 since 2010, starting on the front lines as a receptionist. She is now the Support & Sales Lead for the SocialCRM team, and happily helps our repair shop customers with their marketing initiatives. In her spare time, she works on restoring classic cars or creating culinary dishes at home.